Newegg Enables Bitcoin Payments in Latin America

Willmen Blanco
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Newegg Enables Bitcoin Payments in Latin America

It is possible to buy products with Bitcoin in almost every country that the company covers. The United States and Canada were the first countries in which Newegg accepted BTC.

Newegg, the online chain of hardware and electronic products based in California, the United States, announced that it enabled the option of receiving payments with Bitcoin from Latin America and other countries in which it provides its services.

With its announcement the company seeks to expand its reach in the universe of online payment methods, considering that in 2014 it had a partnership with the Bitpay payment platform, to facilitate transactions with Bitcoin. Initially, it only provided that service to its customers in the United States and Canada, but it has recently incorporated 73 of the 80 countries in which it operates.

In addition to handling payments, Bitpay also deals with refunds or payment exceptions for Newegg customers.

Shipments to Latin America

The news is released one month after Newegg enabled shipment to Argentina, and placed on its website the possibility for seeing the prices of its products in Argentine pesos, as well as the final amount including import taxes and shipping costs. Currently, all its customers can make their payments with Bitcoin.

Newegg also indicates on its website that there are shipments to other Latin American countries, such as Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, in which it will accept payments with Bitcoin.

The Californian online chain also operates for a total of 80 countries on all continents. Only in six of them it will not be possible to pay with the cryptocurrency, namely Algeria, Ecuador, Egypt, Indonesia, Morocco and Vietnam.

Payments with Bitcoin

Anthony Chow, President of Global Sales at Newegg, said in a press release that in 2014 they were one of the first major online shopping destinations to accept payments in Bitcoin, and their pioneering customers quickly adopted this new system.

The company, which was founded in 2001, offers a wide variety of consumer electronics, entertainment, appliances and games to its more than 38 million registered users.

Chow explained that the expansion of the ability to pay with Bitcoin to the majority of Neweggs’s global network highlights their commitment to bring innovation to the online shopping experience and responds to the growing preference of customers for their Bitcoin payment option.

The Chief Commercial Officer of Bitpay Sonny Singh said that Newegg was among the first online commerce companies to see Bitcoin as an option to make international payments safely and at a low cost. He also noted that Newegg was one of the first companies to see this opportunity and has continued to expand its acceptance of Bitcoin to almost all its customers around the world.

The great ability to recover after suffering drastic falls in its price proves why Bitcoin continues to be the cryptocurrency par excellence. Besides, important importing and exporting companies have accepted it as an alternative for of payment. Consequently, expert and novice Bitcoin investors can feel confident about this crypto asset, which still has a long way to go in the market.

By Willmen Blanco

China Can Compete with Libra and Launch its Own Cryptocurrency, According to Huawei CEO

Andres Chavez
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China Can Compete with Libra and Launch its Own Cryptocurrency, According to Huawei CEO

Facebook’s announcement of a crypto project took the world by storm, and has resulted in a series of consequences, both expected and unexpected. However, it seems that the Libra coin will have some direct competition in the not so distant future, according to reports coming from China.

The CEO of Huawei, a prominent tech company based in China, seems to believe that there could be serious competition for Facebook’s market share if China decided to launch a cryptocurrency of its own.

A Similar Value Proposition

Ren Zhengfei, the Executive in question, observed at a recent press conference in Italy (and quoted by local news site Sina) that if Facebook had managed to get so far (it unveiled the project last month, but it will not be up and running until the first half of 2020, at least,) then China could do the same: develop a digital currency with a similar value proposition as Libra.

“China can also issue such a currency by itself. Why wait for others to issue it? The power of a country is always stronger than an Internet company,” he said whilst directly providing an answer to a question from the press.

Regarding the rise of Libra, the central bank of China (dubbed as the People’s Bank of China, or PBoC,) has taken a similar stance to that of many governments around the world: it is concerned about several aspects, including the possibility of Facebook’s digital currency to threaten China’s financial present and future.

At A Disadvantage

According to a specialized crypto news site, Wang Xin, who is currently the Director of the PBoC, stated that China would be running from behind if Libra is pegged to the value of the United States’ dollar.

“If so, it would bring a series of economic, financial and even international political consequences,” he said. Beijing, China’s capital city, is said to be developing a cryptocurrency project of its own, but details about it haven’t yet become public.

Libra: A Controversial Project from the Go

Libra unveiled its white paper in June, after months of speculation about the details of the project. However, after the announcement, several governments, central banks, investors, lawmakers, and other members of the crypto community have expressed their concern about how to properly regulate the ecosystem and the use of the stablecoin per se.

One of the nations in which Libra has raised the most controversy has been the United States. The country is still trying to comprehend the project and how to handle everything that surrounds it. It has been a hot topic at the Congress. However, the crypto community remains critical of the attitude that some regulators and lawmakers have taken against the asset, especially since it has not been released as of now.

“We’re putting regulation before the innovation — Facebook’s just announced Libra; they haven’t even been able to ship it yet, and the regulators are all over them,” were the words of known investor Tim Draper on CNBC Monday.

By Andres Chavez

Walmart China, VeChain, and other Firms Team up to Develop Food Traceability System

Andres Chavez
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Walmart China, VeChain, and other Firms Team up to Develop Food Traceability System

The blockchain technology is, without a doubt, one of the most versatile inventions of our time. The way it has optimized and streamlined processes around the world has revolutionized entire industries, and one of the sectors that has successfully adopted is food production.

This week’s latest development on that front has Walmart China announcing plans to track food treatment and manipulation along the whole supply chain through VeChain’s Thor blockchain. The information came to prominence thanks to a press release published by VeChain.

Meet the WCBTP

According to the release, the Walmart China Blockchain Traceability Platform (WCBTP) will be a joint venture formed by several entities, among which are Walmart China, VeChain, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Inner Mongolia Kerchin (a cattle business,) and the China Chain-Store & Franchise Association.

The WCBTP was recently unveiled, at the 2019 China Products Safety Publicity Week Traceability System Construction Seminar, which was organized by Walmart China and the CCFA. It took place in Beijing, the Asian country’s capital city.

The retail giant has already unveiled 23 product lines that the new tool will track, with another hundred ready to be included in the near future as well. There will be 10 product categories covered by the system; one that customers will be able to take advantage of to ensure all of the items’ background is trustworthy.

According to the publication, Walmart China is expecting that tracked sales will be substantial volume-wise. “It is expected that the Walmart China’s traceability system will see traceable fresh meat account for 50% of the total sales of packaged fresh meat, traceable vegetables will account for 40% of the total sales of packaged vegetables, traceable seafood will account for 12.5% of the total sales of seafood by the end of 2020.”

VeChain’s Expertise

Meanwhile, VeChain is lucky enough to be one of the few firms (197 in total) the Chinese government and, most specifically, the entity in charge of managing Internet and the cyberspace, has authorized to function as a registered blockchain service provider. The list was released a couple of months ago.

VeChain’s blockchain technology is “enabling Walmart China to implement a traceability strategy for products and pioneer the large-scale application of blockchain traceability. By scanning the desired products, customers can acquire detailed information, including the source of the scanned products and geographic location received by Walmart, logistics process, product inspection report, and many more data points. Data collection and data availability are to be continually added to the scale of the platform and its use of blockchain technology.”

It is not the first time that Walmart, one of the most famous and successful store chains in the world, has successfully experimented with distributed ledger technology (DLT.) In fact, it began collaborating with IBM in 2016, on the development of a system that could spot and flag recalled foods.

That was the start of a constant search of solutions through the DLT. Ever since that moment, Walmart has tried the technology to track meat in China, and pursue other projects.

Kevin Feng, Chief Operating Officer of VeChain stated that “as the world-leading enterprise-public blockchain platform, VeChain aims to empower enterprises in the large-scale digitization process by providing safe and mature blockchain deployment solutions and promote the wide application of blockchain technology. We achieve this while putting forward new insights for the development of the businesses’ ecosystems.”

He further added that “the launch of the Blockchain Traceability Platform by Walmart China, the world-class retail giant, is of great significance to the commercial application of blockchain technology. VeChain will work with Walmart China to actively take heed of the call of the government, by utilizing technology to promote the traceability of fresh food, and to provide innovative solutions for the traceability platform through digital technology, so as to generate more transparent and reassuring consumption experience.”

By Andres Chavez

Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang’s PAC Will Accept BTC Donations Via Lightning Network

Andres Chavez
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Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang’s PAC Will Accept BTC Donations Via Lightning Network

Despite being frowned upon by some sectors in the past, it is becoming increasingly normal that a candidate for a political position accepts cryptocurrency via donations with the intention of funding his or her campaign. It has to do with digital assets positioning themselves in the economic landscape in more and more locations.

Now, the most recent report is coming from the United States of America, a country that will host a presidential election process next year. A new PAC (a term that refers to a Political Action Committee) that supports candidate Andrew Yang will take donations in Bitcoin (BTC) through the Lightning Network.

Meet the Humanity Forward Fund

The PAC has been dubbed the Humanity Forward Fund (Humanity FWD,) and this week, it published its Bitcoin-based fundraising project. It is called “21 Days of Bitcoin for the 21st Century” and it will keep taking donations in BTC until August 14th, according to the entity’s website, https://www.humanityfwd.org/.

The website states that “21st Century Problems require 21st Century Solutions. This includes transforming the future of work in a world of rapid advances in automation and technology; tackling the existential threat of climate change and recognizing healthcare and basic economic security as human rights.”

Yang is a candidate for the Democratic Party. His followers launched the Humanity FWD initiative this week in order to support his candidacy for the US presidency in the 2020 elections, according to a specialized crypto news site.

A Partnership with OpenNode

Humanity FWD, with the intention of reaching its fundraising goal and enabling the Bitcoin-powered network to accept the donations, established a partnership with OpenNode, a payment processor. Bitcoin from lightning wallets will be accepted.

“The super PAC obviously wants to receive donations as large as possible. But at the same time, individuals who want to donate just a bit to Yang’s platform now have that opportunity,” were the words of OpenNode CEO Afnan Rahman to the mentioned site. “It allows the donors to have all of the amount go toward the actual donation rather than miner fees.”

Seth Cohen, the Founder of Humanity FWD, observed that the initiative will only accept BTC for the first 21 days. Donations in fiat currency will be accepted after that, as well. As for the future of the BTC funds raised, Cohen said that “potentially earning or losing money creates additional regulatory requirements.”

According to Cohen, OpenNode has a tiny and convenient 1% processing fee, which would be inferior to that of a regular credit card processor.

Crypto Donations in the United States

Crypto donations have been occurring in the United States for a several years now; the 2020 process may be the first one in which a Bitcoin-centered PAC takes the scene to ask for support for a specific candidate, in this case Andrew Yang.

Yang has been earning a reputation in recent months as the most pro-crypto candidate of all. He has listed an official promise in his website that will “promote legislation that provides clarity” to the current states of things regarding cryptocurrencies.

By Andres Chavez

Bitcoin Becomes a Better Investment Option than Blockchain-Related Technology

Willmen Blanco
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Bitcoin Becomes a Better Investment Option than Blockchain-Related Technology

In comparison to 2018, investments in blockchain technology could decrease about 60%. Meanwhile, Bitcoin has doubled its price in the last six months.

As the general prices of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin were falling last year, venture capitalists turned their attention to the promise of the underlying technology, the record book known as Blockchain. Many people said that this was the smartest bet of all, but now the situation is completely different.

Investment in Blockchain Startups

Whilst the price of Bitcoin has had a rebound this year, a new set of data shows that the inflow of money into startups in the blockchain-related technology has fallen dramatically. Until now, traditional venture capital investments in blockchain companies have reached a capital of US $ 784 million through 227 negotiations, according to CB Insights. At that pace, companies that are focused on that technology could only get US $ 1.6 billion this year.  That situation, compared to the record of US $ 4.1 billion in 2018, would mean a reduction of approximately 60%, says the research company.

The money coming from corporations is “in an even steeper decline” despite the interest of companies like Facebook Inc. in creating their own cryptocurrency, says CB Insights. They indicate that enterprises in the phase of maturation are receiving less support, whereas new ones are in a better situation.

According to CB Insight, these trends have significant implications for Silicon Valley and Wall Street as blockchain initiatives have been the largest recipients of venture capital in the United States since 2014.

The Fluctuating Price of Bitcoin

The price of Bitcoin fell by more than 70% last year, during what is known as “the winter of cryptocurrencies” or crypto winter. However, since then it has recovered a great part of the ground, increasing its price by more than three times in 2019 to almost US $ 13,000 by the end of June, before falling back below US $ 10,000 on the week of July 18th, 2019.

In recent days, both Facebook’s plans and cryptocurrencies were criticized by President Donald Trump, the members of his administration and the Congress, who expressed concerns that they could be used by criminals or terrorists. Some cryptocurrency supporters argued that fiduciary money is the most widely used in unlawful activities such as drug dealing and smuggling.

The Fading Interest in Blockchain

Nicholas Pappageorge, a senior analyst at CB Insight, stated that a company’s investment in blockchains may have been so slow that it has not been possible to track last year’s fading yet. He considers that investors’ initial enthusiasm “took a little while to disappear.”

It is worth remembering that Bitcoin has always proved that it is a very stable cryptocurrency since its birth on October 31st, 2008. It has suffered dramatic falls that would have meant the end of any other currency but it has been able to climb again to surpass its previous maximum highs. Obviously, that makes it the most attractive investment option for both experienced investors and novices that want to get their foot in the door of cryptocurrency trading.

By Willmen Blanco

India Seeks Not to Revoke Regulations Imposed to Cryptocurrencies

Maria Rodríguez
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India Seeks Not to Revoke Regulations Imposed to Cryptocurrencies

Delays to requests for information about the regulations imposed to the cryptocurrency industry may be time for legislators to finalize the bill regarding this matter

The government of India would have imposed a strict regulation towards cryptocurrencies since mid-2018, in which it would prevent financial organizations and institutions from conducting negotiations or transactions with crypto assets. For this reason, the government wants to prevent this regulation from being eliminated.

As it is well known, in mid-2018, the country’s largest financial institution, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), issued a statement that required banks operating in the country to complete all relations commercials with companies linked to cryptocurrencies. Hence, all economic activities linked to crypto assets had to cease all their negotiations.

In spite of this requirement imposed by the government of the Asian country, the Minister of Finance of the nation denied that there was a law prohibiting cryptocurrencies. But they explain that using cryptocurrencies is illegal because it lacks of an adequate regulation. However, by that time the circular issued by the RBI said something about it.

“Reserve Bank has repeatedly warned users, holders and merchants of virtual currencies, including bitcoins, about the various risks when dealing with such virtual currencies. In view of the associated risks, it has been decided that, in immediate effect, the entities regulated by the RBI will not treat or provide services to any individual or commercial entity that deals with or liquidates in VC. Regulated entities that already provide these services will leave the relationship within a specified time”.

Since the publication of the document, a series of requests have been introduced to the Supreme Court of Justice, in which the government asked for detailed information regarding the decision and statutes, mechanisms and limitations of the regulation. However, despite the insistence of many institutions, the hearings referred to the case have been postponed without explanations. There are five petitions made by various institutions to the highest Court of Justice and they have not had any clear answer for the case.

Due to the postponement of the information request hearings introduced by the financial institutions to the highest courts, many users and citizens showed their dissatisfaction against the government through the use of the social network Twitter.

On the other hand, experts in the crypto industry and business people commented that these delays in legal matters, which have been going on for more than a year, are due to the great uncertainty about the bill that would regulate the business of cryptocurrencies, as well as others recent reports.

This may mean that legal bodies are giving legislators time to formulate a law that is not contradictory to decisions already made. This is based on the multiple requests for information made by several people and institutions, leaving one of the universal principles of due process related to the speed of justice in question.

Therefore, the country wants to keep these regulations maybe with the aim to protect its users, as much as possible.

By María Rodríguez

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